POLICE LOBBY FOR MORE BYRNE JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANTS

The program, known as Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, helps fund 18
drug task forces across Wisconsin and a community prosecutor program
in Milwaukee, according to Dave Steingraber, executive director of the
Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance.

Steingraber worries that those initiatives could be at risk after
recent cuts to the federal grant program. Congress last year slashed
the program's funding from $520 million to $170 million for fiscal
year 2008.

The impact is being felt nationwide, Steingraber said. In Wisconsin,
if lawmakers don't act, some of the state's multijurisdictional drug
units might have to shut down, he said.

"Will people be less safe? I think they will be," said Steingraber,
who also serves as president of the National Criminal Justice
Association.

Congressional leaders are considering a so-called domestic
supplemental spending bill before they adjourn in late September, and
Steingraber hopes that lawmakers will include additional money for the
grants in the legislation.